1. Field
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a method for manufacturing a device, and to a device manufactured thereby.
2. Description of Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the “scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In a known apparatus, a substrate can be held in a measuring position by a substrate table, to measure certain aspects of the substrate, for example to detect a position and/or orientation of the substrate. For example, the measuring or detecting of the substrate can be carried out remotely by one or more sensors, using one or more measuring beams. After the measuring of certain substrate aspects, the substrate table can be moved to transfer the substrate to a position where the substrate can be irradiated with a patterned radiation beam. Results of the measurement of one or more substrate aspects (for example: location and/or orientation of the substrate with respect to the substrate table) can be used, for example, to focus and/or direct the patterned radiation beam onto a desired part of the substrate, to position the substrate table with respect to the radiation beam, and/or in a different way.